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THE ASTORIAN • SATuRdAy, ApRIl 2, 2022
OPINION
editor@dailyastorian.com
KARI BORGEN
publisher
DERRICK DePLEDGE
Editor
Founded in 1873
SHANNON ARLINT
Circulation Manager
JOHN D. BRUIJN
production Manager
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
We know
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n 1910, it was the centerpiece of town. The crown
jewel and economic engine of Gearhart stood at the
western end of Pacific Way. Theodore Kruse’s huge hotel
Gearhart by the Sea was described in the Seaside Signal,
July 25, 1910, as having 100 elegantly furnished rooms
and a porch-dining room to seat 250.
In five years time, it was gone; leveled by pen-
ny-pinching and all around poor planning in a fiery
disaster.
Just two years before, in 1913, the smaller but beauti-
ful Queen Anne-style Gearhart Hotel, located where the
City Hall now stands, burnt to the ground when the fire
trucks that came from Seaside discovered there were no
hydrants to hook into.
Now, two years later, with the grand hotel on fire,
again Seaside sent fire trucks. This time the hoses and the
hydrant taps did not match!
So what did we learn from this? We soon incorporated
into a city, so we could issue bonds for fire and other
community safety.
But, as Bill Berg said in “Gearhart Remembered,”
“this meant, necessarily, that from 1918 onward the inter-
ests of Gearhart city government were basically differ-
ent from, and sometimes in conflict with, the interests of
Gearhart promoters and developers.”
Today, we know there are a tsunami and other nat-
ural or unnatural disasters coming, just like they knew
they needed fire service in 1915. So is it penny-pinching
or community safety? Please vote “yes” on bond Mea-
sure 4-213.
CAROL LUCAS
Gearhart
Time to come together
T
here is widespread agreement among Gearhart res-
idents that we need a new fire station. We may not
agree on the station cost; $14.5 million seems like a
big number, and if I had to foot the entire bill myself, I
couldn’t.
Fortunately, we live in a community where citizens
band together to accomplish things that benefit all of us
and would be impossible on our own. When $14.5 mil-
lion is shared among all property owners, the debt is
amortized over 20 years, the number becomes more
manageable.
Based on my home’s assessed value, and depend-
ing on which bond scenario the city chooses, my annual
taxes will go up by about $250 or $350 (less than a dol-
lar a day) for the first three years, then they will go down.
The city understands that any tax increase can be diffi-
cult for some, and is already exploring the possibility of
a tax assistance program for low- and moderate-income
households.
Just focusing on the total construction cost distracts us
from how the bond will affect us as individual taxpayers.
It minimizes the difference between cost and value.
The majority of Gearhart residents appreciate the ded-
ication of our heroic first responders and their families.
We cannot afford any further delays in providing them
with a modern and safe fire and police station. The longer
we delay, the more it is going to cost all of us.
Join me in voting “yes” on Measure 4-213 by May 17.
BRENT WARREN
Gearhart City Councilor
Proud endeavor
t is an undeniable fact that firefighters save countless
lives and billions of dollars in property damage every
year. Not having a safe and adequate fire station, that can
support our volunteer firemen and women, should be
cause for concern for all who have chosen to live in a tsu-
nami inundation zone on our isolated stretch of coastline.
In addition to two paid staff, Gearhart is fortunate to
have 27 volunteer firefighters and emergency medical
technicians, many of whom have spent countless hours in
fire, medical and emergency response training.
In some cities, firefighters spend large sums of money
and time in training, and are well paid for their efforts.
Gearhart’s fire brigade is primarily volunteer, eight of
whom are women. This is something to be proud of.
A new fire and police facility would provide separate
bathrooms, showers and changing rooms for women, and
a place for volunteers to work out in preparation to safely
do their jobs — something they don’t have right now. It
would also provide for around-the-clock on-duty staffing,
adequately sized gear lockers, and dedicated decontami-
nation space for equipment.
Let’s not forget these are unpaid volunteers. We’re
lucky to live in a community where so many are will-
ing to step up to serve others. Why would anyone oppose
such a positive and proud endeavor as a new resilient fire
and police facility?
Let’s all vote “yes” for Measure 4-213 on May 17,
and show our public safety workers the support and
encouragement they deserve.
DIANE SPEAKMAN
Gearhart
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volunteers the space and equipment they deservedly need
to provide for the everyday lifesaving services Gearhart
needs to be Gearhart.
CHRIS BELL
Gearhart
The real bottom line
wning a home in Gearhart since 1992 has never
been dull. An honest debate on town issues is
always invigorating. But the battle over a new fire and
police station is downright gnarly.
The proposed $14.5 million price tag has poison
tongues wagging. To find clarity on what my tax increase
would be, I looked at my home’s assessed value and had
an awakening.
Gearhart’s assessed property values are especially,
thankfully, low. For the first three years of the bond, I
would pay about 93 cents a day extra in tax and, as the
water bonds are paid off, the price tag drops to less than a
quarter and dime a day. Money well spent.
It’s critically important to challenge the twisted facts
and focus on the real fiscal bottom line: Saving lives.
Those precious lives of our family, friends and naysay-
ers alike.
Our awesome paid staff and volunteer first respond-
ers know they may be risking their life each time a call
comes in. But they are there for us. We need to be there
for them.
Yes the tsunami threat is real — it scares the bejesus
out of me — yet personal disasters like a chimney fire,
highway crash and heart attack are possible every single
day. A vote “no” won’t make these go away.
Gearhart is growing, and so will the calls. A vote
“yes” for Measure 4-213 replaces an outdated crumbling
firehouse, provides the tools, training and higher ground
facility our town needs. Come together. Vote “yes!”
VICKIE ABRAHAMSON
Gearhart
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What price is safety?
hat does $14.5 million look like to me? It looks
like safety and survival for my family. Passing
bond Measure 4-213 is crucial to safeguarding our loved
ones and neighbors.
What does $14.5 million look like to me and you?
Saying “yes” to the bond gives our first responders the
home, tools and training facility critical to our survival in
a car crash, fire and God forbid, tsunami. Fourteen and a
half million dollars seemed like a scary monster number
until I figured out my own share based on our property’s
assessed value.
A “yes” vote will add the cost of a daily McDon-
ald’s coffee, about $1.14 a day, to my taxes. This will be
money well spent, a very good value. Definitely not a
monster.
The need for a new fire and police station will not go
away. Our current facility is crumbling, inadequate for
our modern-day needs. Call the fire department nonemer-
gency number for a tour of our current station.
If we don’t do this now, we will only be revisiting this
issue in the near future, at a much higher cost to all of us.
Construction costs increase with each passing year, they
don’t decrease.
Please, let’s do this by joining together! Support our
fire and police with a “yes.” It is an investment in a resil-
ient future for our priceless Gearhart community.
JEANNE MARK
Gearhart
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Deservedly need
Protect our volunteers
am writing to ask my fellow Gearhart community
members to vote “yes” on Gearhart bond Measure
4-213.
The measure does ask a lot from us. But in my opin-
ion, funding a new fire and police station that replaces
the present inadequate one, that is located in an inunda-
tion zone, gives back to the livability and safety of our
community more than it asks of us in funding.
A new building is expensive, but putting it off will
cost more. The return on our investment is money well
spent for our community’s present and future. I am
thankful our city leaders are being proactive, so as not to
have to be scrambling to provide unprepared for emer-
gency disaster services.
“Keep Gearhart, Gearhart” is a phrase often heard in
our community. While it means different things to dif-
ferent people, I hope you will vote “yes” to provide our
wonderful, selfless and hardworking safety officers and
earhart got a new school; it now needs a new fire
station. The present-day school for Gearhart and
Seaside children opened in 2021 in the foothills of
Seaside.
It is important to remember that the new school
was moved because the residents of these communi-
ties, including many without school-age children, saw
the value of protecting our children, teachers and school
workers if a tsunami hits.
We now need to protect Gearhart as a whole, and
build a new fire station. Here’s why, here are the facts:
1. Our present day Gearhart fire station was built in
1958 by a coalition of firefighter volunteers. It was made
of hollow cinder blocks and, like the old school, is in a
tsunami inundation zone, and will not withstand an earth-
quake, let alone a tsunami, making it useless in a natural
disaster.
2. Our fire station is also too small, and cannot effec-
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tively accommodate our eight women and 19 men volun-
teers. Currently there are no separate restrooms, showers
or dressing rooms.
3. Modern-day first responders require a facility that
has space for equipment, storage, training and decontam-
ination, none of which is available in our existing meager
fire station.
It is crucial that we know these facts as we vote. Just
as we moved our school to high ground, we must now
do the same with a new fire station. Please vote “yes” on
Measure 4-213 and protect our volunteers who, in turn,
protect us.
WILSON MARK
Gearhart
So many issues
he proposed Gearhart fire station and the develop-
ment of a subdivision on property south of High-
lands Lane concerns me a great deal. This proposal will
only work if the Clatsop County Planning Commis-
sion and the Board of Commissioners agree that the
land should be included in the Gearhart urban growth
boundary.
Including this land into the urban growth boundary
is a very lengthy process with public hearings for con-
cerned citizens. A preapplication county hearing with the
developers and 30 neighbors in January 2020 met with
opposition. Concerns were the elk population and butter-
fly habitat preservation areas.
In March 2020, Warrenton adopted a moratorium
which prohibited the issuance of new water connections
outside the incorporated boundaries of Warrenton. This
water restriction for the Clatsop Plains is still in effect.
The developers in the spring of 2021 realized the land
could not be developed unless they had Gearhart water.
Clatsop Plains communities are concerned about
water quality and quantity and want to initiate a mora-
torium on building homes with septic systems on less
than one acre. Because Gearhart gets their drinking water
from the Clatsop Plains aquifer, will higher housing den-
sity affect the city’s future water supply?
There are so many issues with this land to be consid-
ered. Please vote “no” on the Gearhart fire station bond
measure.
DEANNA MANCILL
Gearhart
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Security and safety
e retired to Gearhart after falling in love with its
peaceful and beautiful surroundings, along with
the friendly community.
For us, safety was, and is, a priority! We all want to
feel secure that in case of criminal activity, fire or medi-
cal emergency, responders are prepared and able to come
to our aid.
Unfortunately, Gearhart’s aging fire and police station,
built in the 1950s, are inadequate for our full time and
volunteer responders’ safety needs, and most likely will
not withstand a future catastrophic event, like an earth-
quake or tsunami.
A new fire and police station being located at a higher
elevation, as was done with the school being moved for
this reason, will provide us with the security and safety
that our community needs going forward.
Please vote “yes” on bond Measure 4-213.
BRAD and GEORGIA WENGER
Gearhart
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Now is the time
s a resident of Gearhart, I believe that a fire and res-
cue facility is an essential service for any commu-
nity in order to protect people and property and to retain
a well-trained volunteer force.
Our town currently has a facility that is structurally
insecure in even a minor seismic event and is in a loca-
tion that is apt to be swamped in case of a major tsunami.
The Gearhart Fire Department has a truly great group
of volunteers — they are dedicated, ready and able to
cope with our emergencies in spite of being housed in a
crumbling, crowded, unsafe building.
I believe that now is the time to build a new fire and
rescue facility in an accessible location — one that can
serve the citizens of our area while keeping our volun-
teers and their equipment safe from quake and tsunami
damage.
Please vote “yes” for Measure 4-213.
RUSS TAGGARD
Gearhart
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